Furnace



Odi. lo, 1939. G HERNDON 2,175,525

FURNACE Filed March 2, 1936 @na Herndon @M @im www Patented' Oct. 10, 1939 PATENT GFFICE FURNACE Gray Hemden, Springfield, Ill.

Application March 2, 1936, Serial No. 66,721

3 Claims.

The object of the invention is to provide a coal furnace for dwellings, apartments, and the like, including means for disposing of clinkers and similar detritus, which furnace is characterized by its simplicity of construction, and which requires a minimum of attending.

In the drawing, which is illustrative of one manner in which the invention may be embodied into a furnace, which drawing is in no sense restrictive:

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of the furnace taken along the line I--l of Figure 2; and

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the furnace, taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

The invention relates particularly to furnaces of the type adapted for use in dwelling houses which necessarily receive only a minimum of attending and are not constantly under the supervision of an experienced furnace man.

The improved furnace of the present invention makes possible the convenient removal and disposal of clinkers or other similar detritus without the disagreeable or perhaps dangerous consequences of fumes and gases from said clinkers being permitted to circulate throughout the room and building wherein the furnace is located. The

invention provides for the disposal of these clinkers and the like by dropping them into a clinker disposal box positioned within the walls of the furnace, in which box they are allowed to cool until the disagreeable and perhaps dangerous gases have passed away through the chimney flue, after which time the clinkers may be removed.

The furnace is shown in the drawing as comprising an inner shell or furnace proper I0 which is supported upon any suitable base, such as the oor Il. The inner shell comprises a cylindrical foundation part I3, which merges into a widened portion I4 dening the repot, and a dome portion l5. Disposed upon the top of the shell I0 is a radiator section Il, and leading from said radiator section to the exterior of the building is a chimney flue I8 for escape of the gases of combustion.

The inner shell or furnace proper is,'in the present embodiment of the invention, shown in position within an outside furnace casing 20, which casing is mounted upon the base Il. The casing 20 completely surrounds the furnace proper, the space 2| between the furnace proper and the casing constituting an air space in which a heating medium such as air is heated and from (Cl. 11H5) which it-passes through air delivery vents 22 to the point where heating is desired.

The invention relates to furnaces in which coal or other similar material is used as fuel. Centrally disposed within the furnace proper and 5 at the upper end of the cylindrical foundation portion i3 thereof, is a tuyre 25, said tuyre being mounted upon a hollow elbow member 26 provided with feet 2l which support the same upon the base H. The tuyre is formed to prol0 vide an outside chamber 23 open at its lower end for passage of air as will be hereinafter described. The interior of the tuyre communicates with the hollow interior of the elbow member 26, and the latter is adapted to receive the inner end of a l5 tube 29 in which is disposed a screw conveyor 30, these devices being part of a conventional automatic coal stoker.

'I'he tuyre 25 is surrounded by a ring 3| of fire brick or other refractory material which isolates 20 the lower end of the furnace proper from the main bodythereof.

The elbow 26 is disposed within a box 35 which extends into the lower portion of the furnace proper, and this box is apertured to receive the 25 inner end of the tube 29 of the automatic Stoker.

As best shown in Figure 1, an air tube 31 also communicates with the interior of the'box 35, so that air forced therethrough will pass through the box 35 and up through the tuyre 25, passing 30 through chamber 28 and suitable openings 33 in the tuyre to the interior thereof providing forced draft, as is well understood in the art.

'I'he coal or other similar fuel is fed to the screw conveyor by means of the coal hopper 4|, 35 to the lower part of which is connected the outer end of the tube 29. A blower 42 is positioned adjacent the hopper, and connected with this blower is the louter end of the air tube 31. Any suitable means of power may be utilized, such as 40 .an electric motor located at 43, and this power means serves to operate the screw conveyor 30 to convey coal to the interior of the furnace and to operate the blower 42 to force air through the tube 31 and up through the tuyre openings 39 to 45 facilitate the combustion of the fuel in the repot.

It will be readily understood that in this type of furnace, and using this type of stoker, the clinkers, ashes and detritus will be forced by the upwardly moving body of fresh fuel to the outer zone of the rebox as shown at 45. Heretofore, furnaces have been constructed to automatically provide for the removalk of these clinkers and the like by permitting them to drop through a chute 5f located adjacent to and beneath the flrepot. To facilitate the removal, some type of automatic conveyor such as a screw conveyor has usually been required. These devices, in addition to being of considerable bulk and expense in cost and maintenance, have been found to be subject to frequent break-downs, if not attended by a skilled furnace man, and if not given constant supervision. The break-downs are generally due to the formation of large clinkers and the like which choke the outlet passage through which the clinkers are removed.

To remedy this defect in clinker elimination, various devices have been utilized, including power driven breakers and crushers which are adapted to disintegrate the bulky clinkers either within the furnace or at some time during their passage from the furnace to the discharge conveyor. It will be obvious that such elaborate devices are not convenient for use in a dwelling house or the like, because of the cost of installation and maintenance, and because of their bulk and susceptibility to breakdowns which require the services of a skilled furnace man to remedy the same. .12.1

In order to conveniently provide for the elimination of these clinkers without the installation of these elaborate devices, I have devised the furnace construction of the present invention, which provides for manual removal of the clinkers, and without the inconvenience or danger of gases from the smoldering clinkers passing into the room in which the furnace is located and throughout the dwelling house.

Referring particularly to Figure 2, the furnace proper is shown equipped with an opening aligned with an outlet conduit which passes through the air chamber 2| and connects with an opening in the casing 20, said opening being covered by a door 5|. 'I'he conduit 50 and the door 5| are positioned at a convenient height for a person to observe the condition of the combustion within the ilrepot 33 and also for convenient manual removal of the clinkers from the periphery of the combustion area. Disposed between the flrepot and the door 5|, and depending from the conduit 55, is a clinker disposal chute 52, the lower end of said chute opening into a compartment 53 which is isolated from the air chamber 2| of the furnace, and is in communication with the interior of the furnace proper and with the chimney outlet Il. The chamber 53 is in communication with the interior of the furnace proper only through the chute 52 and the conduit 50. 'Ihe compartment 53 is provided with a suitable door 54 for access thereto, this door being located adjacent the base of the furnace. The door is of such dimensions as to permit the insertion and removal of a clinker disposal box 55, which is intended to be positioned within the furnace and beneath the clinker disposal chute 52.

'I'he conduit 55 and the compartment 53 are defined by `a housing attached to the furnace proper, said housing having an upper section forming the conduit 50 open at its inner end and in direct communication with the opening in the furnace proper, and a lower section forming the compartment 53.

The door 54 is equipped with a suitable opening or openings 55 to permit air to enter the compartment 53 from the room in which the furnace is located, in order to create a natural draft from compartment 53 up through chute 52 and through the interior of the furnace proper to the exhaust chimney I5. This natural draft will conduct any gases emanating from hot clinkers in the box 55 out through the chimney even when the door 5| is open, thus preventing gases from entering the room.

It will be obvious that the door 5| chute 52 and compartment 53 with its door 54 may be located at any convenient position around the furnace, not necessarily on the side of the same opposite to the automatic stoker as described in connection with Figure 2. Furthermore, a plurality of openings, chutes and compartments may be provided around the furnace in order that the ashes may be removed from all sides of the repot. As best shown in Figure 1, three of the sets of doors. chutes and compartments may be located substantially 120 apart around the furnace proper in order to provide access to all sides of the firepot for clinker removal, but it will be obvious that only one or two of these doors, etc., may be utilized, at any of the positions shown in Figure 1. It will be apparent that the provision of a plurality of boxes 55 increases the storage space for clinkers within the furnace, thus making it unnecessary to empty said boxes at frequent intervals.

In operating the furnace, the door or doors 5|, together with their respective access openings, provide entrance to the flrepot for observation, cleaning or other reasons. When it is observed that a number of clinkers have accumulated at the periphery of the combustion area of the firepot, the householder may open one of the doors 5| and, by means of any proper furnace tool,

sach as a tongs, lift the clinkers and drop them through the chute 52 into the clinker disposal box 55. It will be obvious that this operation will not invove removing the hot clinkers from the furnace, and thus, no disagreeable or injurious gases will be permitted to flow into the room of the dwelling. Furthermore, by reason of the natural draft provided by the openings 56 in the door 54, no gases will pass into the room through the opening left by the door 5|. While in small furnaces, it will only be necessary to provide one door 5|, larger ones may be equipped with a plurality of the same in order that the clinkers may be conveniently removed from al1 sides of the flrepot.

After the hot clinkers have been dropped into the box or boxes 55, the door or doors 5| are closed, and the clinkers will cool and give off all of their gases of combustion which will pass out through the chimney I8. When the clinkers are sufficiently cooled, they may be disposed of by opening door 54 and removing the box 55.

It will be apparent that the invention provides a furnace adapted for clinker disposal which is of great practicability and of the utmost simplicity, and one which is adapted for use in dwelling houses or small apartments and the like; and that the problem of clinker disposal may be taken care of by this invention with a minimum of labor and without the likelihood of breakdowns of such devices as mechanical clinker disintegrators and removers. Obviously, no skilled furnace man need be available to attend such a furnace, as the simple construction provided makes possible the attending of the furnace by any householder.

I claim:

1. A furnace including a base, a casing extending above said base, a fuel stoker extending into said casing on the base, said stoker including a conduit opening upwardly into the furnace at its inner end, an inner. shell including a nre pot disposed above and communicating with the inner terminus of said conduit within said casing, a chimney for gases leading from the upper end of said inner shell and through said casing, said inner shell being spaced from said casing to provide an air chamber therebetween, said casing having an opening equipped with a door at the level of the iire pot to provide access thereto, a conduit establishing communication between the interior of said inner shell and said opening, a clinker disposal compartment between said inner shell and said door, a clinker disposal chute communicating with said conduit and said compartment, and a clinker disposal box positioned in said compartment beneath said chute, said casing having a second opening equipped with a door at substantially the level of said base to provide access to said compartment and said box, said last named door being provided with a damper controlled opening to provide natural draft therefrom through said chute, conduit, and inner shell, to said chimney.

2. In a furnace, a unitary structure supported on a base comprising an inner shell surrounding a fire pot mounted above the base, a chimney outlet from said inner shell including a radiator section, said inner shell having an opening at a leveliabove the base to provide access to the fire pot and a conduit extending outwardly from said opening, a downwardly directed clinker disposal chute leading from said conduit having a lower end entering a compartment formedA on the base by said structure, said compartment being in communication with said tire pot and chimney through said chute, and a furnace casing surrounding said radiator section and said inner shell and spaced from the latter, thereby forming a space for a heating medium between said inner shell and said casing, said casing having delivery vents leading from said space for distribution of the heating medium, said casing having an opening at the outer end of said conduit to provide access to the nre pot through said oonduit, the outer end of said conduit being normally closed by a door, and a removable clinker disposal box on the base Within said compartment at the lower end of said chute, whereby clinkers may be manually removed through said conduit from said re pot when said door is open, and dropped through said chute into said box and permitted to cool therein within said compartment, the gases from the clinkers being permitted to `escape through said chute, and the interior of said inner shell to said chimney.

3. In a furnace, a unitary structure supported on a base comprising an inner shell surrounding a re pot mounted above the base, a chimney outlet from said inner shell including a radiator section, said inner shell having an opening at a level above the base .to provide access to the re pot and a conduit extending outwardly from said opening, a downwardly directed clinker disposal chute leading from said conduit having a lower end entering a compartment formed on the base by said structure, said compartment being in communication with said fire pot and chimney through said chute, and a furnace casing surrounding said radiator section and said inner shell and spaced from the latter, thereby forming a space for a heating medium between said inner shell and said casing, said casing having delivery vents leading from said space for distribution of the heating medium, said casing having an opening at the outer end of said conduit to provide access to the fire pot therethrough, the outer end of said conduit being normally closed by a door, a Stoker extending into said casing beneath said re pot for feeding the fuel upwardly into the same, and a removable clinker disposal box on the base within .said compartment at the lower end of said chute, whereby clinkers may be manually removed through said conduit from said re pot when said door is open, and dropped through said chute into said box and permitted to cool therein within said compartment, the gases from the clinkers being permitted to escape through said chute, and the interior of said inner shell to said chimney.

GRAY HERNDON. 

